


A Note With Love

by exohousewarming, jintrix



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Family, Fluff, M/M, Single Daddy Jongin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 17:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12370521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exohousewarming/pseuds/exohousewarming, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jintrix/pseuds/jintrix
Summary: Prompt number:442Side Pairings (if any):-Warnings:-Summary:Jongin's goal: Make neighbor Mr. Do smile every day he can.





	A Note With Love

**Author's Note:**

> **Author Note:** i hope you guys would feel warm after reading this. thank you for giving this fic a chance.

“Daddy, you’re always writing letters to Mr. Do. Uncle Sehun said you got a crush on him.” Her seven years old daughter Baekhee peers up at him with her round beautiful eyes she got from her mom.

Putting down the pen, a semblance of a smile etches on Jongin’s face before taking a glance at her overly curious daughter. “Daddy is just cheering up Mr. Do,” a sigh escapes his lips. “I have never seen him smile, Baekhee. Not even once.” _And I saw him that day._

“Uncle Sehun said you have a crush on him.” She repeats it in a way that she says it’s the universal truth.

Jongin stays mum about it. Curse Sehun his bestfriend for spilling too much information to his daughter. Why of all people, Sehun is one of Baekhee’s subject teachers in school?

Changing the topic, he says, “The goal is to make him smile. I-It’s not a crush, Baekhee.”

“I doubt that.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m seven.”

“Right, you are.” Jongin continues on his task.

Later on, her daughter climbs on the other stool and scoots over the desk to take a closer look at the one-fourth stationery paper where a doodle of a penguin is. She giggles. “Daddy, that penguin is like Mr. Do with long lashes and heart shaped lips. You really have a crush on him. Uncle Sehun is right!”

“Really?” Jongin grins proudly to himself, holding the paper and admiring the penguin doodle below the text he wrote. “Is daddy improving drawing penguins then?” But he clears his throat after when Baekhee mentions about him having a crush on their neighbour and keeps silent. He’ll try to avoid the topic as much as he can. For now.

It’s not the first time he attempted to draw a penguin. He did it once for Baekhee’s homework but it ended up looking like a goose instead.

Baekhee crosses her pudgy arms and then props an arm as she rests the side of her head on her palm, humming. She’s in deep thought, but nods in a split second, grinning. “But you should draw a bear too, daddy.”

“A bear?” He muses as he faces his daughter.

“You’re the bear, Daddy!” She exclaims jovially, hair bobbing from her movement. Jongin’s brow perks up from the suggestion as he takes it into consideration.

“So I’m the bear,” he mumbles, a little laugh spilling from his mouth. He picks up the pen once again and knits his brows. He visualizes how a bear looks like, so he draws a circle next to penguin with the same size, then draws an inverted ‘u’ shape over the opposite top of the big circle and shades the small circles for the eyes of the supposedly bear doodle.

“It doesn’t look like a bear to me,” Baekhee protests and gets off the stool, leaving the room first, but comes back with her sharpened Dora the Explorer pencil.

Jongin still mulls over the inerasable bear doodle on the paper, how it looks like a monkey instead of a bear. As much as he wants to rewrite the note, he can’t bear to waste another stationery paper to repeat everything. He gave all he got to draw the penguin and he can’t just risk to ruin it the second time around.

“Daddy, this is how you draw a bear,” Baekhee enunciates slowly, carefully, like a mature woman would. Not that she’s not too mature for her age, but she really is, and sometimes Jongin feels like he’s the kid between the two of them.

Jongin watches his daughter draw neatly on the same paper (to his relief). Compare to his attempt, Baekhee’s bear is much better than his.

“So are you an artist or what?” Jongin’s laugh is shaky, but genuine. “That’s better than mine.”

Baekhee gives her the paper and beams. “Teacher said, practice makes perfect so I practiced a lot drawing animals and other things, daddy.”

Swept away from her words that not an ordinary seven year old kid would say to an elderly, Jongin gathered Baekhee around his arms and kisses her head. “How old are you again, Ma’am?”

Baekhee pouts at him. Jongin chuckles more because his daughter got the replica of his pouted lips. “I’m seven, Daddy. Go now and put it on Mr. Do’s door before he catches you!”

More laughter rolls out from Jongin’s lips while his daughter scrutinizes him with a hard stare, arms folded and pouty lips intact on her cute face.

“Okay, okay, Ma’am, I’m going to deliver the letter now.” He scrambles up from his seat and gathers the Pororo washi tape he owns. He gives a salute to his daughter who salutes back before he steps out of their apartment door.

 

-

 

Jogging outside the apartment complex had been Jongin’s usual routine every weekend. It was in broad daylight of summer when he first saw Kyungsoo. He knew him by name when the landlord told him during the first day he and his daughter moved in that the boy who lives across their apartment is someone called Do Kyungsoo.

Generous in nature, Jongin tried to send his neighbours a box of apple pies he bought from his friend Sehun who owns a bakery. However, only Kyungsoo declined the pie and shut the door in his face.

At first he was offended by how the boy did that to him. First, it was undeniably rude. Second, he was just trying to be friends and to get to know everyone living closer to him. But how he saw Kyungsoo as someone grumpy, disrespectful and mean changed when he saw the guy crying behind a thick bush in the vicinity’s garden.

He might not have any clue to the reason why the boy was crying that time, but on the next few weeks that he had observed the boy, the more he noticed that Kyungsoo never smiles at all. The only feature he has most days is his glued poker face.

One more thing, he’s hard to read.

Watching the boy from afar piqued Jongin’s curiosity more. Kyungsoo is like a puzzle. It’s difficult for Jongin to put all the pieces in the correct place. Every piece of information about Kyungsoo remains a mystery to him that ever since then, he looked after him like a father would to his child, like how he always does to Baekhee.

Until, an idea hits his head.

He could still clearly remember how he did court Baekhee’s mom back in senior high school. It was the most common way of chasing after a woman’s heart back in the days and his attempt was proven effective.

So with newfound goal in mind, he started writing notes to Kyungsoo in hopes to see the boy smile even just once.

 

-

 

_‘I think it would be breathtaking to see you smile even just for awhile.’_

Kyungsoo gets another note that morning before he leaves to work. It has been weekly before when he has started receiving fragrant stationery papers with quotes, cheesy notes, jokes and pick-up lines that (he will not admit) brightens his days.

The first time he received a note posted on his front door, he thought someone was playing a prank on him so he ripped it apart. Nevertheless, the exact words still rung in his ears as he goes back to that day.

_‘I hate to see you sad. Believe me, but it hurts me.’_

Lies. He thought it was just a lie. Coming from someone he didn’t know is a lie to him despite the underlying meaning behind the words that for once, someone voiced out their concern for his well-being.

But he shrugged the thought off, so he let the pieces of paper occupy the trash bin.

Then, he received more letters. He started compiling them in an empty shoe box he covered in colored papers and designed it with doodles that every night before he went to sleep, he reads the short letters and pretends to think that someone out there is genuinely concerned about him. Whatever’s the truth, he chose to believe that the person behind the letters isn’t playing with his emotions.

_‘Tears in your eyes_

_Let me wipe it for you_

_Let me put a smile that you deserve_

_I care for you.’_

 

-

 

_‘I might not know you better_

_But I’ll be here if you need a writer who can help you write a happy story._

_So let me be the ones to write your days an awesome one.’_

More notes piled up and more notes come. Another paper occupies his front door. He plucks it off and stares at it with immense curiosity. Kyungsoo wants to meet the person behind the notes to specifically thank him for being his temporary remedy to his sadness.

Glancing from left to right as he stood in front of his front door before he leaves, the door across his opens and Jongin together with his daughter greets him with a fond smile that he has grown to get used to every morning too.

“Mr. Do! You got another love letter?” Baekhee points to the paper he’s holding. His cheeks warm up to the tips of his ears from the mention of a love letter.

“I-It’s not a love letter,” he mumbles shyly and scratches the side of his face. A forced small laugh answers the silence that suddenly ensues.

Baekhee’s dad, Jongin, from what Kyungsoo could remember as the man’s name, rubs the back of his neck.

“What does it say, Mr. Do?” Baekhee bounds forward to him, jumping perkily in excitement while she grips on the straps of her Dora the Explorer backpack. “Tell me! Tell me! What does it say?”

Kyungsoo gulps down, but not missing the chuckle that comes from the little girl’s father who looks so broad with his tight white shirt and fitted jeans. “I’m sorry about my daughter. Baekhee, we have to go now.”

“But I want to know what’s inside the letter!”

“But Baekhee,” Jongin’s shoulders slump and traces his eyes at Kyungsoo who immediately flicks his eyes away.

Biting his lower lip, he rakes his eyes on the piece of paper that has the words, ‘Would you like to have tea with me? How about coffee? Too bad I don’t drink coffee, but I might drink a cup if you’d insist. What do you think?’ Then under the message, there is a poor drawing of a bear and penguin with a heart in the middle of them.

“Uh, won’t you be late in school, B-Baekhee?” He tries to shift the topic to something else to save himself from further embarrassment. What he doesn’t expect is there is still another message at the back of the first message he had read a few minutes ago and it’s not just a quote this time or anything usual that he receives every day. This time, he feels like, the person is asking him on a date and he doesn’t know how to feel about this. Trust issues has been his greatest enemy ever since.

Baekhee rubs her cheek and turns to Jongin. “Daddy? We still have time right?”

Kyungsoo turns to Jongin who has his eyes set at him. He swallows a lump from his throat and turns away. For some odd reason, his heart races and somewhere from his body burns and itches in a weird kind of way and the feeling as if a zap of electricity courses in through his veins have him reeling.

“We still do have, Baekhee, but we have to go now and we can’t disturb Mr. Do because he has important things to do too,” Jongin’s lips break into a smile. “You have important things to do too, correct?”

Kyungsoo lowers his black cap on and nods, but doesn’t forget to give Baekhee an affable smile. “Maybe next time, Baekhee we get to talk again? And play?”

Baekhee’s eyes widen in glee. “We could?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t get to interact with some of his neighbours and he actually doesn’t know where the invitation came from out of his lips. “We could.”

“Okay, Mr. Do! I’m going to tell you lots of things about my Daddy Nini by then!” She perkily says that has Jongin flinching.

“Baekhee—“ He said in a warning tone, but stops when Baekhee pouts and flutters her long curly lashes along by wringing her hands.

“You mad, Daddy Nini?” She innocently asks and Kyungsoo watches Jongin in amusement from how he easily surrenders from his daughter’s cute antics, though the frustration and panic is evident on his face. And for how many days it has been, Kyungsoo giggles.

“Mr. Do! You laughed!” Baekhee announces and jumps in glee in front of Kyungsoo. “You laughed! You laughed!”

Kyungsoo’s face softens instead of sporting back his cold face. His heart lightens up and he realizes that he did miss stretching up his lips widely to laugh.

“You’re such a hyper kid, Baekhee, but thank you for making me happy this morning.” Strangely, but he does so, he pets Baekhee’s hair and lifts his head to meet Jongin’s eyes.

Again, his heart speeds up, his heart jumps to his throat. The smile Jongin gives him is too comforting. He can say, the smile has him feeling safe. He has been seeing the man around, has been receiving the same comforting smile for weeks, but today, today is different, as if something tells him to finally open up, to break away from the chain he has wrapped himself to, and to try to love again.

“Baekhee, say bye now. We have to catch the bus in ten minutes.” Jongin reminds. Baekhee obeys and grips her father’s hand.

“Mr. Do! Bye! Bye!” The child waves enthusiastically, hair bobbing up and down as she skips with his father on the way to the stairs.

Watching the father and daughter intently, skipping down the hallways, Kyungsoo grins and he clutches on his chest as he looks back at the letter he just got for the day.

He reads the final words written at the bottom corner of the paper.

‘You’ll know who I am soon.’

Perhaps, this is the sign to completely move on from his heartbreaking past.

 

-

 

Jongin has prepared for this day to come. He and Baekhee thought about this for three days, though mostly, it was Baekhee who suggested things to him on what to do.

“Daddy, are you ready?” Baekhee’s worried tone got Jongin uneasy too. Baekhee hugs his legs when he stills and says, “I’m scared that Mr. Do might reject you, Daddy.” She peers up from her bangs with puffed cheeks. “You’re scared too?”

Jongin crouches down and meets her daughter’s eye level. “Honey, Daddy will be fine.” He tries to convince himself that he won’t chicken out once he finally says the words he wants to tell to Kyungsoo for long. “Rejected or not, life still goes on and maybe I can try again next time.”

“Uncle Sehun is right, you really like Mr. Do. He told me you’d always talk about Mr. Do to him and how you wanted to comfort Mr. Do when you saw him cry a lot. Uncle Sehun told me things you never told me, but it’s okay, daddy. Uncle Sehun said, you must be scared to tell me things about your crushes because I might get mad. But I won’t get mad, Daddy Ni. I’m fine with Mr. Do! I’m fine with you having crushes and dating people so you’d be happy too.”

Frankly, Jongin wants to cry so badly. The words Baekhee has said softened his heart more. He’s in the brink of bolting out of the apartment complex to ditch the plan tonight, but with Baekhee and her caring words, Jongin is more pliant to do what he has to do now. If before he has qualms about telling Baekhee about trying to date again because all this time, he thought, Baekhee won’t be happy for him to look for love again, now, his daughter has finally gave him the permission to seek for someone again, thus, he wraps his arms around Baekhee gently and buries his face on her shoulder.

Baekhee rubs his back comfortingly and Jongin wants to both cry and laugh at the same time, but he didn’t. There’s only this smile of hilarity curving his lips. Baekhee is really mature for her age that he does find endearing about her.

“You’re only seven and yet I feel like I’m talking to a twenty-one year old girl.” He pulls out from the hug and holds Baekhee’s shoulders. “Sehun is telling you too many things. But don’t you worry, if I found someone again, I won’t forget you. I will never forget my responsibilities to you as your dad, Baekhee.”

“I know, daddy. I know you are not like mom.” She mentions the word with bitterness on her tongue. “Don’t marry someone who will try to leave you again, daddy. I want you to be happy and I have my vote for Mr. Do.” Baekhee beams and flashes her two thumbs up to Jongin.

“I promise. But you think Mr. Do won’t leave me in case he says, yes, to date me?” Jongin blinks and glances at the wall clock across him.

“Daddy, we will never know until you try dating him.” Baekhee suddenly turns her back and gasps. Jongin can tell her daughter just took a look at the time on the clock. “Dad, you have to go now!”

Frantically, Baekhee pulls Jongin to the kitchen counter and jumps to take a good look at the mug of coffees and teas they both prepared—though Baekhee just only did the stirring of the drinks.

“Okay,” Jongin takes deep breath and flicks his eyes at the two mugs of coffee and two mugs of teas on the tray on the countertop and to Baekhee. “Do you think he’ll say yes or no?”

“Dad, just get the tray and go there. You’ll never know until you ask him.”

“What’s your guess, honey?” Jongin wants to at least have a single clue to what his daughter’s instincts are.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Jongin blows on his fringe and picks up the tray carefully. “You’re too honest.”

“Bad thing or good thing?”

Another curve of a smile. “Good thing. Keep that up, Baekhee. Honesty is the best policy.”

“You’re stalling.”

“Fine, fine, I’m going now. Wish me luck?” Jongin carefully trudges to the front door, taking deep breaths and releasing exhales soundly.

“Wish you the best!” Baekhee beams and opens the door for Jongin.

 

-

 

But it’s not what they both expected to happen that night.

Once the door opens, there, in front of their door is Kyungsoo in flesh, eyes suddenly directing at Jongin who holds a tray of colourful mugs and Baekhee grinning from ear to ear.

“Mr. Do! My Daddy wants to talk to you! Bye!” Then she shuts the door.

Awkwardly, the two men stand in silence.

Kyungsoo just got home from working in a bookstore so the tiredness in his eyes is evident that Jongin doesn’t miss.

Jongin bites his lower lip and starts an, “Uh...” before Kyungsoo pays the tray an attention. The smoke coming from the mugs billows up and curls around each other. However, the aroma is left forgotten when their eyes meet.

“C-Coffee or t-tea?” Jongin stutters as he releases the words from his dry mouth. But despite his shaky voice, he manages to fix his eyes at Kyungsoo, unwavering.

To Jongin’s great surprise, Kyungsoo steps forward, closer to him, meets his eyes and studies later on the mugs holding different liquids. Two different drinks in four different mugs.

With newfound confidence and urge to make this night a different one than usual, Jongin speaks up, “I mean every word I put on those notes I sent to you.”

The ghost of a smile Kyungsoo has finally drawing his face slowly goes back to its normal shape—steady and thin. He gives Jongin a blank stare.

“You don’t know me.” Kyungsoo tells with a hint of sadness and utter curiosity to Jongin’s strange kindness.

“I might not know you completely, but I want to change that and get to know you better, to know about you more,” Jongin firmly says with conviction and solidity. “I-I can try.”

Surprisingly, a small smile forms on Kyungsoo’s lips once again and Jongin hopes it won’t waver this time. “Try what?”

“Date me?”

The door behind Jongin creaks open and he can hear Baekhee giggling. His daughter is watching them in the open.

On the other hand, Kyungsoo giggles and flicks his attention at Baekhee peeking behind the door. “I never had a clue to who brings me those notes for long. I must admit, you never crossed my mind, Mr. Kim.”

“Ouch,” Jongin dramatically replies, though he isn’t sure if that’s the sign Kyungsoo will reject him in the end.

Seriously, Kyungsoo repeats. “You don’t know me, Jongin. I may not be someone who you think I am.” Again, sadness seeps out from his blunt words, but Jongin doesn’t give in to the palpable taste of rejection coming.

“Then let me know you more.” Jongin isn’t giving up. Not this time.

Kyungsoo shows his infamous heart shaped smile that is rarely seen by many. “Ask me again.”

So Jongin asks, once more, carefully, slowly, steadily, “Date me. Coffee for yes, tea for no.”

Eyeing the mugs in front, Kyungsoo feels a surge of different and inexplicable emotion in his chest from the turn of events. It was just that early in the morning when he felt that strong emotion he hasn’t felt for someone before, now, unexpectedly, the letter says sooner they’ll meet, and here they are now.

“I guess, I’ll take the coffee.”

Baekhee lets out a high pitched scream that has two of their neighbours walk out from their rooms to see the state of the hallways. Jongin and Kyungsoo apologizes for the disturbance while Baekhee announces up loudly—like a news that shouldn’t be miss, “Mr. Do is finally going to date my Daddy Ni! We’ll get to talk and play a lot from now on I can feel it!”

  


-

 

Five years later, a year after Jongin and Kyungsoo got married in a small chapel with only their friends, Baekhee, and Jongin’s family to witness the ceremony, Jongin finally feels complete.

His wife might have left him and their daughter for a better man, he’s still glad that there is still someone perfect to match him and that is Kyungsoo.

It’s still fresh in his mind how Kyungsoo made him suffer when he’s still courting him, but that was all worth it when the price he can get is the wide heart shaped smile glued on Kyungsoo’s lips and lucky if he gets to listen to Kyungsoo’s beautiful laughter whenever he does something stupid and embarrassing. It was all worth it and after the years has passed, they finally have matching rings on their ring fingers.

Camping outside the apartment complex is inconvenient, but because Baekhee wants to try it, the couple granted Baekhee’s wish, so they all have their backs laid on the mat next to their tent in the garden area.

After rounds of playing Uno cards and exchanging of stories about their days at work and from Baekhee—her day in school, Baekhee is already sound asleep inside the tent. The little girl five years before is now eleven and long legged like her dad. She’s a beauty with brains and for that, Jongin is proud, and Kyungsoo too.

Meanwhile, Jongin and Kyungsoo are still outside, tracing constellations on the sky and laughing about jokes they got to learn from their workplaces.

“I’m sure your parents are proud of you, Kyungsoo.” Jongin suddenly says that has his husband’s ears perk up, but gets to sustain his sight at the sprinkles of stars littering the sky.

“You think so?”

Jongin hums. “I do think so,” he nods to convince Kyungsoo more. “I’m sure they’re still watching over you. You might have been through a lot without them. With everything you experienced after you lose them, I’m sure their guiding you in every step that you take. Who knows, maybe they are the ones who brought me to you too.” Jongin chuckles from his theory, but it has a nice ring to it, so he embraces the thought.

“It was a nightmare for me when I lost them that night. But it was scarier when that person I thought who would love me for life betrayed me. It was scarier than watching those horror movies Baekhee loves to make us watch.” Kyungsoo brings out a bubble of laughter, a nice contrast to the sound of cicadas in the night. If years ago, all he could do were cry and mope, with Jongin he found himself back smiling again. “Maybe mom and dad really did bring you to me.”

“Those exes who betrayed us, I hope they bit their tongue hard tonight it will bleed.” Jongin laughs and Kyungsoo joins.

“That’s mean, but yeah, one time won’t hurt, yeah?”

“Exactly. They deserve it.”

They stare at each other’s eyes, though their bodies are still spread eagled on the mat that barely fits them both due mostly to Jongin’s long limbs and arms that reaches the grass as well.

Kyungsoo’s arm is sprawled on Jongin’s chest and smiles with his eyes closed, but opens them back again to look into Jongin’s mesmerizing eyes.

“I love you, Soo.”

Kyungsoo scoots closer to Jongin and presses a kiss on his husband’s cheek, hand on Jongin’s chest where his heart beats. Jongin can see the attractive smile Kyungsoo owns and that is thanks for the moonlight serving as their lampshade for the night.

“I have a poem for you. A short one.” Kyungsoo offers and Jongin listens intently to the next words that come out from Kyungsoo’s beautiful mouth.

“Recite it.”

Kyungsoo recites the words,

“When I thought the ending was near

You came who washed out my fear

And so I’d be here from now on

Granting your wish of forever more.”

Together, _forever_ is attainable.


End file.
